Dr. John Farrell:

Unfortunately, we do not have any control over that. The basic thing is that we do not have enough doctors at all levels in the country. We need to find a way of getting more people in who would enjoy a career in medicine. That would be down to discussions with the universities and expanding places there, and having more people. If we had more doctors then hopefully there would be more doctors interested in pursuing a career in general practice. Unfortunately, we do not have any influence on the points system or on how many places there are in the universities. Again, perhaps this is something that could be brought up with colleagues in education around how this could be addressed.

For those who wish to pursue a career in general practice our job is to provide the education and support for them throughout their professional careers. If more people could be provided in that field and we would be happy to accept them.